Playtime! [Open]

[belle]

Big brothers away, dear Annabelle will play.

The small red head smirked to herself, peering out of her room. Silence met her listening ears. The crew was asleep, to her knowledge, which meant it was time for Belle to explore. She silently closed the passenger room door closed, looking behind her for any sneaking crew members. When she spotted none she tiptoed through the ship, tinkering away.

If this weren't her first night on board they'd have known she practically needed locking up at night.

Belle squealed quietly in glee as she stumbled upon a gun rack. "Heaven!" She squeaked, "I've found Heaven!" Instantly her eager hands went to work on the first toy she could reach without a step ladder. She glanced around herself, grinning like a madwoman. Once more she found no one. She plopped down on the ground, much like a toddler would, and quickly went to work. She tugged smaller tools from the belt that draped around her hips, unscrewing and pulling the automatic weapon apart.

Thankfully it was unloaded, otherwise she'd probably end up hurting herself. She pulled the weapon apart piece by piece, ooing and awing at the mechanics of the thing. She wanted to learn more about guns, and whether she might have a future in creating better ones. She loved her engines, Hell she loved just about anything that she could take apart, but guns fascinated her.

When it had been fully dissembled, and looked like nothing but scraps, she quietly worked to put it back together. It was different, but it reminded her a lot of when she'd taken apart her elder sisters hair dryer. She stood slowly, holding the rifle gingerly. The quirky mechanic stared down at it a moment, pondering on whether she should put it back or confiscate it for further study. Of course Belle snuck the piece of equipment back to her room.

For the second time she crept out of her room as if her life depended on it. Belle tinkered a bit more, laying inside of the oven to play around with its innards. She emerged with black soot smeared beneath her right eye. Un-phased she continued her voyage.

Her heart skipped a beat, however, as she stood before the door that had been calling to her for hours. Screaming, howling, pleading for her attention...

ENGINE ROOM

Belle clasped pale, soot covered, hands as a soft sigh escaped thin lips. She pushed long red locks from her face, slowly reaching for the handle. Icy blue eyes glistened with pure elation. The sheer excitement was enough to kill her, especially as the door slipped open like a knife through butter.

She took a step. Two steps. Three steps into the room, her eyes shut tight. She merely listened to the hum of mechanical life, the overwhelming song of machinery. Once more she let out a soft sigh, nearly going weak in the knees. Absentmindedly Belle pulled her wrench free, but it was then that she was nearly startled out of her skin.

[Sidney Bainbridge]

Sidney had been in his rack for a while now on that fine line between reality and dreams of past horrors. Every time his eyes closed another face of one of his fallen soldiers would appear. It wasn’t all that uncommon for him really, but either way it made for a damn hard night. Though tonight it was exceptionally bad he kept seeing them fall up there on the Butte back in Serenity Valley. At this point he had had enough and was ready to give up on the night’s sleep.

Sidney slowly sat up in his bed with stiff knees and a sore back. He reached under his pillow and pulled his trusty revolver from under it. Sliding it in to the shoulder sling holster before belting the holster to his body. After a brief moment he stood up and walked to the tiny mirror that rested on the wall in his quarters. While standing there looking at himself for a moment contemplating what he should do next he heard a sound from outside of his room. It seemed someone else was up as well. Sidney threw his pants on and slowly crept out the door in to the hall. With a quick glance in either direction there was no one to be found.

With a limping stride Sidney walked the hallway of the desolate night passages of the Trinity in search of who was still up. He had a lingering feeling that some form of trouble was brewing in the ship. Again he heard a faint sound but this time a metallic sound, the type of sound heard when the engine room door creaked open. Sidney picked up his place to taking great care to keep his silence while approaching.

As Sidney reached the door he took a cautious look inside to see what had intruded on well oiled works of the ship only to find Belle performing some sort of non-routine “maintenance” on the engine. Slowly Sidney crept in to the room grabbing one of Art’s retches from a counter then with a careful and precise swing he slammed it on the counter just beside him. A loud ‘Twang’ bellowed through the counter and resonated through the walls of the engine room. ”What is going on in here Belle?” He stated with a stern look on his face. The last thing the ship needed was a little girls midnight cookie run through the engine room. She had claimed to be a mechanic but this ship wasn’t in need of a second one who hadn’t been tested yet.

[belle]

It was official. She was dead. That was it, with that loud twang her heart had stopped and she was dead. The quirky redhead looked down at her chest, one soot covered hand over her quickened heart. She turned to face Sidney, a bratty scowl taking over her little face. She happily chucked her wrench at him with a frustrated squeak. "Must you ruin all my fun, old man?!" She hissed, pouting like a child. She huffed, mumbling under her breath as she mocked him in a voice that was obviously nothing like his. Her little head bounced as she did so, looking more childish than ever.

"I wasn't doing anything!" She finally snapped, her pout still prominent on her face. She threw her hands in the air, motioning towards the engine. Once more her blue eyes filmed over in complete adoration. "I just wanted to touch it..." She sighed longingly. That show of her love for machines vanished in a millisecond as she turned on Sidney again. She went so far as to approach him and poke him in the chest with a small finger. "But NO! Someone can't let a girl have her fun!"

She turned back to the engine, peering at it like a lovesick school girl would a cute boy. She went as far as to plop herself down on the floor, arms crossed. Sticking her small nose in the air she refused to be kicked from such a magical room. He'd have to throw her out, literally. And while he was larger than her, and surely stronger, Belle was quick and could hit pretty damn hard. She'd get a few good ones in if he wasn't careful. Belle smirked to herself at the very thought, the images flashing through her head like a movie. It was quite humorous, especially as she saw herself winning; standing on his chest as he lay on the floor defeated.

Of course the reality of it was, that was unlikely.

[Sidney Bainbridge]

There was a slight smirk on Sidney's face as he saw the girl reacted to his surprise. It wasn't that Sidney took pleasure in messing with people but some people needed to learn a hard lesson. "Sorry little lady but this area is off limits to you. Captains orders." He said as his smirk persisted.

Sidney walked over toward her as she sat on the ground like a child. Towering over her with his smirk now turning to a scowl. "playtime's over let's get you back to your rack." He said as he reached down and took hold of her arm giving a firm but gentle pull upward on it. He had to be carefuller then he usually would since she was the Captains little sister.

He though about it as he tried to pull her to her feet. What had she gotten in to what damage had she done. They would defiantly have to look the place over in the morning to make sure nothing messed up. "how long have you been playing with the Trinity's engine anyway?"